Graffiti Analysis by fi5e

June 1, 2005 on 11:54 pm | In global news | Comments Off on Graffiti Analysis by fi5e

I just need to make a plug for fi5e, a student at Parsons School of Design in NYC who’s doing some brilliant graffiti-related geekwork.

His Graffiti Taxonomy project does with graf what Douglas Hofstadter did with typography in Metamagical Themas, and what Bernd and Hilla Becker did with coal tipples and water towers in Typologies. Small multiples rock my world. (Coincidentally, Adam Greenfield has been tracking one of his posters as it disintegrates over time. Here’s a detail of the same poster from fi5e’s blog.)

In fi5e’s most recent and ambitious project, Graffiti Analysis, he tracks a writer’s movements in 3D using a kind of light pen, manipulates the data, makes crazy videos out of them, and projects them onto walls and monuments. I think he’s just scratching the surface as far as what could be done with that data. But the videos have a tight esthetic quality about them that I like for its own sake. Check out his blog for more details and lots of moving pictures.

Hats off to you, fi5e! (And thanks, Mike, for the latest links.)